Chapter 14: Awakening

† Saturday, November 11, 2023.

About an hour after his wife reached his bedside, Theo began to wake up. Seeing his eyelids fluttering, Sylvie stood and leaned over him.

There were two beds but only one patient in his hospital room; his bed was by the window and brightly lit by the morning sunlight streaming in. As he squinted and his eyes focused, he recognized Sylvie but showed his confusion.

“Hey, are you crying?” Obviously, he was not all the way back. And his open mouth exposed the gap where his front tooth had been dislodged. Then slowly he seemed to be getting a few of his wits back.

“Theo, how do you feel?”

“Um, terrible. Worse by the minute, except that you’re here with me. This is the hospital?”

“Yeah. The cops found you last night by the river. You were beaten unconscious, and your wallet, phone, and coat were taken. Only this morning did my police friend Archie Wilson figure out it was you (from your scar) and called us. It was four days ago that you left.

“Theo, now that you’re awake, I’m going to leave you for a while. I need to tell Sette that you’re conscious and to let the doctors further evaluate your condition. I will come back in a few hours so we can figure some things out.”

She turned on her heel and walked out, leaving Theo stunned, not only by her abrupt departure but by the coolness of her tone.

“No!” he cried as the door shut.

Out in the waiting room, Sylvie walked up to Cosette and Julie and grabbed her coat. Impatiently, she told them, “He has awakened, and seems to be able to think. We should get back to Julie’s house.”

“Can I see him?” asked Cosette.

“No, he’s kind of a mess. I’ll come back later today.”

Sette looked like she wanted to protest, but she reconsidered after seeing her mother’s stressed expression—also seen by Julie.

“I wonder what happened back in the room with him,” thought Julie.

At 11:15, they pulled into her driveway.

“Sette, would you go inside and get stuff out for our lunch? Your mom and I need to see what this guy is doing.”

In front of the burned remains of Number 3 they saw a heavy-duty pickup truck and a middle-aged guy wearing work clothes. After introductions, he explained that he had been hired by the Placketts to secure their property at Number 1.

“There’s not much left after the explosion, but Number 3 also needs to be secured. Somebody could get hurt stumbling around in the wreckage. Do you have contact information for the owners?”

After giving him what he asked for, Sylvie obtained his agreement to help her carefully tour the property in case there were any recoverable items she could retrieve. Twenty minutes later, she walked back into Julie’s kitchen with a collection of small items that survived the flames.

At the kitchen table, her sandwich and soup were ready to eat.

“I didn’t find much, but you can look through the box later, Sette.”

“OK, Mom. Can I ask about Dad?”

She sighed, loudly and heavily.

“He looks bad. He has a huge black eye, and that whole side of his face is all swollen and bruised. There’s a tooth knocked out right in the front of his mouth. His left hand is completely covered with a cast because of the broken bones.”

“There’s no feeling in Julie’s voice; it’s just sort of dull,” thought Julie.

“But what did he say? Did he ask about us? About me?” Cosette was alarmed and upset.

“No, he didn’t. It’s, well, I’m not sure what he ... Oh, hell, I’ll talk to him more soon.”

Cosette stood up and hugged her mother, then said, sadly, “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m going to go read on Julie’s Kindle. Let me know if you need me.”

She wandered away, sadly.

“Julie, I’m not sure. Maybe he should not come here.”

“Really? Talk to me.”

“He had nothing to say. He didn’t apologize. He didn’t explain. He doesn’t seem to regret what he did to us. What he, oh god! What he’s done to us, to Sette!”

“Sylvie, how long was he awake with you before you left and came out to the waiting room?”

“Not long, a minute or two.”

“Do you think, maybe, he was still pretty confused? Let’s see how he talks to you when you return there. And he doesn’t even know about the explosion and fire yet.”